There's a terrible idea going round that I thought we had dismissed in all but extremist circles. But it was repeated today on Radio 4 by an august professor. It is the suggestion that kids are vaccinated more for the social good than their own good. Therefore the risks...
/1
... associated with vaccine for kids have to weigh more heavily in the cost/benefit analysis. The underlying thought is "they're getting vaccinated more for us than them" so we must proceed with great caution. Sounds reasonable, but it really is lousy thinking. Here's why:
/2
Forget, for a moment, that children do get seriously ill with covid and remember that, even if they were 100% invulnerable, it would remain in their palpable and direct interest to have healthy, living family members at home.
/3
Even on the narrowest, tightest definition of the self-interest of the child, vaccination is vital. Children need adults. The end.

Or not quite. I don't think they need adults who continually find ways to justify delays in protecting them, for reasons which patently ARE...

/4
... to do with their agendas and not the interests of our children. When we hear improbable concern about the mental health of kids from those with no previous record of such concern, we know to be sceptical. But we should also beware of the more measured-sounding arguments...
/5
.. invoking "balance of risks" etc around kids, because in the end they contribute to the astonishing delay, even refusal, to protect the next generation. Kids need vaccine and clean classroom air. And that really is the end of it.

/6

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More from @DMinghella

5 Jan
It's 2022. Let's stop pussy-footing around and call the regime what it is... The Policing Bill, the Elections Bill, the Nationality & Borders Bill, media control, othering of migrants and lawyers, sweeping use of secondary legislation, brazen lies and wholesale corruption...

1/6
You know where I'm going with this. If it makes you feel uncomfortable saying the word, or you think it's somehow "unhelpful", I get it. I've been there too, I've done that too, I've sat on my hands too.

2/6
But I for one no longer have the stomach to keep giving them a free pass to pretend they are benign democrats, when I know beyond all reasonable doubt that they are not.

3/6
Read 6 tweets
4 Jan
In September we sent our kids back to school - with much trepidation, but at least with the promise of vaccination for teens (albeit 1 dose) by half term. That half-hearted teen vaccination programme essentially failed, and schools drove 50k/day cases throughout the autumn.
In January, as the focus starts to shift to 5-11 year olds, are we to send them back on a similarly unreliable promise that they will be vaccinated? Parents can have little confidence in this government's capacity or willingness to protect children.
We've endured all kinds of disinformation - from kids don't get it, to kids don't spead it, to masks don't work, to faux concern for mental health - and what it all boils down to is - sorry, but your government will not protect your kids.
Read 8 tweets
3 Jan
I have a theory: those who decided to bring Johnson down didn't expect their efforts at the end of last year to be so successful, so quickly. So they weren't ready with their replacement candidate, and had to row back a little, hold him there for a bit.
/1 of 4
Hence, he's on his "last warning" and "three strikes and you're out" messaging. It's not that he's getting another chance - he's clearly finished - it's that his support collapsed so quickly that they haven't positioned their replacement yet.
/2
Liz Truss? She was up, up, up. Now she's on the lavish expenses ropes. I'm not sure that's so bad for her - it's kinda cleaning out the cupboard, right? Get all the crap out now so that it doesn't break your stride later on. "Pricing it in"....
/3
Read 4 tweets
2 Jan
And in case you're wondering whether they really might give a f*ck about the mental health of our children, don't forget these are the people who presided over worsening child poverty, vast cuts in education and CAMS, and had to be shamed by a footballer into feeding hungry kids.
So be very clear: this is not about the welfare of our children. The refusal to install air filtration and mandate masks; the bizarre delays in child vaccination - they're all part of a "take it on the chin"/"let it rip" narrative that's killing our loved ones, every single day.
Our children, as the song goes, are our future; the idea that you'd positively WANT them to catch a disease which you KNOW causes long term, multi-organ issues by the truckload, and hospitalises more than 1,000 kids every month, instead of taking simple precautions to render ...
Read 5 tweets
27 Dec 21
Are all Tories awful? Of course not. Never been my kinda folk, but you'll find good people in any tent. Until recently. These crack-Tories put power before country, and torpedoed our economy and our international standing. They blew a 4%+ hole in our GDP and sent navy gunboats
/1
.to try to intimidate our French neighbours. These guys are not representative of British conservatism, but of something far darker. They brought the same short-sighted ideology of hyper-selfishness to public health, killing 170,000+ of us, and used schools as a political..
/2
dividing line to try to paint themselves as the champions of freedom (and legitimise their shocking, repeated, failures to act). Far from standing for conservatism, they have undermined and assaulted almost every institution, from the Royal Family to Parliament to the courts;
/3
Read 8 tweets
10 Dec 21
They say anti-Covid measures go against the British way of life.
No. It is British to be mindful of others. To go out of our way for others. Dunkirk came to define British spirit because it was a story about how civilians could play a heroic role in securing the safety of others.
Nationalists and libertarians want us to believe in a Britain of me-first selfishness and isolationism. That is their Britain, and, wrapping themselves as they do in the flag, they think they own - and they get to define - the very concept of Britishness.
But there is a better Britain than the one they portray. It is a decent Britain, a fair Britain, an open Britain. Proud of its democracy, its rule of law, and its protection of the vulnerable. That's why - to the surprise of some - I use the flag, and the words, #takebackBritain.
Read 7 tweets

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